Is that your horse?

This case concerns a traffic collision on the night of the 21st October 1998 on the N6 road between Athlone and Moate. The claimant’s car collided with a number of horses loose on the road before subsequently crashing into a concrete fence post. The claimant suffered brain damage in the collision, while one horse was killed and another injured.

The issue before the court was whether, on the balance of probabilities, the defendants owned and/or controlled the horses that were loose, and were negligent in allowing them to escape onto the highway causing the accident [3].

As no one had claimed either horse, it was left to the court to decide who the probable owners were. Witnesses described both animals as fine big horses and valued at between €3-10,000 [21]. Because the injured horse was also registered on the Show jumping Association of Ireland records, from here it could be traced to the defendant. Having reached this conclusion, it was then reasonable for the court to conclude that both horses were under the defendant’s control on the night of the accident [23].

Using photographs taken by the claimant’s son the day after the accident [14] and a site visit by the court [15], Mr Justice Charleton concluded that the condition of the fencing (or lack of) was inadequate and as such it was likely that a number of horses did escape from the field onto the highway that evening causing the crash. What then most likely happened is that the remaining horses were rounded up by the defendants that night and hurriedly transferred to another property [26]. The defendants were therefore held liable for the full costs of the accident.

The claimant was awarded €337,394.02 (€160,000 general damages, €177,394.02 special damages)

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About Kris

Kris is an Associate Professor of Sport Law, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!

About Jon

Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!